Bernard Sanders

Bernard Sanders is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007. Sanders is the longest serving independent in U.S. congressional history.

Since his election to the House of Representatives in 1990, he has caucused with the Democratic Party, which has entitled him to congressional committee assignments and at times given Democrats a majority.

A self-described democratic socialist and a New Deal-era American progressive, Sanders is pro-labor and emphasizes reversing economic inequality. Many scholars consider his views to be more in line with social democracy.